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Puzzles were once merely a holiday pastime for Karlynn Johnston and her family.

“At Christmas or Easter, my mom and my sister and I will drink wine and make puzzles while the turkey cooks,” says Johnston, a 44-year-old Edmonton food blogger, cookbook author and mother of two teens.

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Now that COVID-19 has thrust Johnston’s family into virtual lockdown in their Chappelle area home, puzzles are no longer an occasional pleasure. They are a survival skill. Last week, it was a 1,000-piece Disney creation. Now Johnston and her 16-year-old son Kade are tackling a challenging classic — a Thomas Kinkade painting.

“Puzzles are very satisfying,” says Johnston.

Once considered the purview of the elderly or toddlers needing fine-motor practice, puzzles have roared to the forefront during the COVID-19 crisis. During the recent outbreak, adult puzzles have been a top-searched item on Amazon, along with those pandemic staples toilet paper and hand sanitizer. The German game and toy company Ravensburger — the biggest puzzle maker in the world — told Bloomberg News service that puzzle sales rocketed 370 per cent between the middle and end of March.

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Puzzle sales in Canada have also shot up dramatically. At this time last year, orders for puzzles at Calendar Club, Canada’s largest specialty retailer and a major distributor of puzzles, sat at about 1 per cent. In the first part of April 2020, puzzles made up more than 60 per cent of the orders at the company, which has 15 retail locations across Canada (now temporarily shuttered) and is a staple of the pre-Christmas mall experience with 160 pop-ups nationwide last year.

“People are looking for things to do, finding ways to keep stimulated and to solve alone time,” says Calendar Club co-owner John Edgar, in a phone interview from the private company’s headquarters in Paris, Ontario. “We were seeing a growth in puzzles going into (COVID-19), but we had no idea the need would be so great. We’re just delighted we can provide a way to connect people with their passions.”

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Last year, Ravensburger sold seven puzzles per minute in North America. The company expects to reach 20 puzzles per minute in 2020. Photo suppliedSupplied/Postmedia

Like comic book collectors and Trekkies, puzzle aficionados are often devoted to their multi-piece universe. Here in Edmonton, before the pandemic Table Top Cafe owner Brian Flowers offered a monthly Puzzle Battle at his coffee shop and game space. Teams of three or four players would get the same puzzle and race to complete the task in a competition lasting between 90 minutes and two-and-a-half hours.

“Teams would bring out their ringers, and the ringers were their grandmas,” says Flowers.

Now, Flowers has had to close his 124 St. location, and is scrambling to keep the southside shop afloat. One way to keep cash flowing is to sell puzzles from the curbside, and to deliver puzzles to customers who can’t make it to the shop. But supply is increasingly a problem, with puzzle shippers promising to “do their best.” Flowers hopes to be able to meet the growing need.

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“Humans seem to like things fitting together well,” he says. “To do that, and be rewarded for it, is like crack.”

Puzzles defy age stereotypes. The hashtag #jigsawpuzzle has more than 252,000 posts on Instagram, with 20- and 30-somethings happily displaying their talent for assembling images of ramen, cake and gummies. Turning completed puzzles into wall art is a new trend. At Calendar Club, 1,000-piece puzzles are the biggest sellers, with Harry Potter a fan favourite.

“I believe that people are looking for alternatives to electronic and hard data and screens,” says Edgar, who has owned the company with his brother, Ken, and their wives, Marsha and Jennifer, since 1993. “I think there is a fatigue factor out there.”

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Edgar expects that after COVID-19 is over people will appreciate different things in their lives, including puzzles and “other low-tech items that connect people.”

“Camping, walking our dogs, going for a hike,” says Edgar. “Do you have to travel around the world to see beauty and amazing things? We’re so blessed in this country.”

Small pleasures are big business right now, with customers grateful for a way to stay happy while staying inside. Local puzzle fan Greg Cust, 62, has been appreciating his hobby more than ever since he has been sticking close to home. He spends between two and three hours a day on the pastime.

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“I highly recommend them. It’s good for your brain,” says Cust, who began piecing together puzzles on a regular basis after he retired a year ago.

Cust used to do the puzzles at the kitchen counter, but recently bought a special light and a height-adjustable table. He is partial to 1,000-piece puzzles with a scene like kids playing hockey on an outdoor rink. Cust points out that puzzles are not all fun and games; there are hazards. His wife, Colleen, has vacuumed up more than a few pieces, which Cust has had to painstakingly retrieve.

Though Colleen Cust doesn’t take part in her husband’s passion for puzzles, the hobby is still a symbol of their close connection.

“My wife is the closer,” chuckles Greg. “She comes in when there are four pieces left and gives me a high five.”

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